Westslope Cutthroat Trout

Introduction: The Westslope is a major subspecies of cutthroat and is native to a very large area of Western North America, including parts of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and Canada. While at one time Westslopes had the largest range of any subspecies of cutthroat, Westslopes have been displaced throughout much of their native range. For example in Yellowstone National Park they were once the only trout found in the Madison and Gallitan River drainages, but are basically extinct in these two drainages now because of the introduction of non-native trout. However a pure population is currenty still found in one tributary stream of the Gallatin River. Westslopes are still found in a number of areas through out their native range, and are the dominant species or only species of trout present in a number of Idaho and Montana streams. In Washington, they are native to a number of streams on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, and have been stocked in quite a few of the high mountain lakes though out the state. The broad stock of Westslopes that are currently stocked in high mountain lakes around the state originally came from Lake Chelan and now is managed out of Twin lake in the Wenatchee River drainage. The main cause of the decline of Westslope cutthroat throughout their range, was the introduction of non-native trout, especially Rainbow trout, which readily hybridize with cutthroat. Westslope Cutthroat are not especially known for being picky eaters or for large size, although it is known to happen under the right conditions (an example is Kelly Creek in Idaho where they can be picky at times and attain large sizes).

Description: Westslope cutthroat like any trout very from one individual to the next, but there are a number of traits that set them apart for other cutthroat. As with oither inland subspecies of cutthroat, the spotting on Westslopes tends to be concentrated toward the back of the fish. Their spots are irregularly shaped, and look to similar to those found on Coastal Cutthroat. The spots on on Westslopes have a tendancy to be smaller than those found on Yellowstone Cutthroat, although some population, such as those in the John Day River Drainage of Oregon and the eastern slopes of the Cascades in Washington often have spots that are about the same size as those on Yellowstone Cutthroat. While the coloration of Westslope Cutthroats is variable like all cutthroat, it tends to be silvery with yellow tints, although some show bright yellow, orange or red coloration.

Below: A map of the native range of the Westslope Cutthroat